


A Portrait of a Hero

by SummerInAmsterdam



Series: EtNuary [20]
Category: Escape the Night (Web Series), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Art, Basically how I think Tyler's "post-season memorials headcanon" came to be, Friendship, Gen, Heroism, Hurt/Comfort, I love this friendship okay-, Nightmares, Portraits, Post Season 2, Survivor Guilt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-25
Updated: 2020-01-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:27:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22399345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SummerInAmsterdam/pseuds/SummerInAmsterdam
Summary: It's been almost a month after the events of the Victorian mansion. Funerals had been had, goodbyes had been said. But Tyler still wonders what he could have done for his friends...EtNuary Day 20: Tyler Oakley
Relationships: The Mystic | Andrea Russett & The Thespian | Tyler Oakley
Series: EtNuary [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1589350
Comments: 5
Kudos: 9





	A Portrait of a Hero

Another nightmare about Tana. That was part of the reason why Tyler was over at Andrea’s house so late at night. He understood completely - he’d had plenty of nightmares about their friends, too. The other reason was that Tyler needed to be around a friend.

It had been two months since they’d returned from the Victorian mansion, and the nightmares were still pretty regular for both of them. The funerals had all taken place, but Tyler never really stopped thinking about the friends they lost that night. Lauren Riihimaki, who'd been so scared the entire time, up until her death. Jesse Wellens, who didn't even get a chance to fight. DeStorm Power, who may have been shady, but didn't deserve the fate he'd ended up with. Liza Koshy, who could have made it out of their challenge with him, but was taken anyway. Tana Mongeau, his ally and friend who'd met her end out of nowhere. Gabbie Hanna, who was killed in the most painful way Tyler could imagine. Alex Wassabi, his childhood friend who'd died a hero. And Joey Graceffa, who was so close to escaping with them...

He wouldn’t tell her out loud what he was thinking, though. Right now, this was about  _ Andrea’s  _ problems, not his. 

Andrea was lying upside down on her living room couch as she finished recounting her nightmare. “She was just, like…  _ there. _ L ike, right outside my window even though it was a second story window. She didn’t move, and I felt like I was frozen in place. And then she just crashed through and ran at me, and that’s when I woke up.”

“Sounds scary,” Tyler sympathized.

“Yep. I’m probably never gonna sleep again, but whatever.”

“That’s not good - you need sleep!”

“Psh, sleep is for losers anyway.”

Andrea probably said that to make light of the situation, but she sounded exhausted. She usually used humor to hide her fear. It was a habit of hers that Tyler noticed after they’d returned from the Victorian era. She usually wasn’t the kind of person to talk about her problems that much, but she opened up whenever Tyler was the one talking to her.

“How are you feeling, though?” Tyler asked. “Really?”

Andrea shook her head. “I was the one who suggested that Joey and I go through with it. I thought it was for the best of the group, but…” She sighed. “ I don’t know. I just wish it could have been different.”

“Like how?”

“Not, like, 'I wish someone else had to die.' I just wish we didn’t have to be the ones to choose. Or, like, I wish that _none_ of us had to die. Why couldn’t that have just been a regular ball?”

“I hear you there.”

Tyler wished so many things had turned out differently. He wished he and his friends didn’t get sucked into that twisted mess. He wished it could have just been a regular, fun masquerade ball. He wished that whole disaster of a night had never happened.

And above all, he wished that their friend, Joey Graceffa, was still there with them. He and Andrea were both horrified when the Sorceress had killed him. Tyler was certain he could have done something to save him, and the guilt haunted him even more after they were forced to leave him behind. At least they were able to find a coffin for him.

But then, after they arrived back in the present, they were told by those “Society Against Evil” weirdos that his body was missing. That had been boggling Tyler’s mind for weeks. What the hell happened to him? Did someone take his body? There was no way he could have come back to life, right?

_ He didn’t even get a proper burial…  _ Tyler thought sadly.

Andrea pushed herself up so she was sitting upright. “How are  _ you  _ holding up, Tyler?” She must have sensed something was up.

Tyler looked at her cautiously. “I’ve been okay.”

“Are you sure? You never talk about anything.”

Tyler shrugged. “I mean, it doesn’t really matter. All I care about is if _you’re_ okay.”

“Your feelings are valid, too, dude.”

For some reason, that made Tyler feel a little better. Andrea was a bit of a badass in Tyler's eyes, but it was nice to know she was looking out for him.

So, he decided he could tell her. “I just feel like… so many others deserved to be in my place. Maybe I could have done more for them, or something. They should be here with their families and their friends, living their lives and being happy. But it’s just…  _ me. _ ”

“I’m here, too,” she assured him softly. “You’ve still got me. You don’t have to be alone in this. And besides, there was only so much you could have done. You didn't have a say in a whole lot of the shit we saw.”

Tyler appreciated the gesture, but he still felt a weight in his chest that wouldn’t go away. No matter what Tyler did, he would never be able to bring his friends back from the dead.

Andrea suddenly stood up and said, “Come with me for a sec. I wanna show you something.”

‘What is it?”

“Just come on,” she encouraged him.

“Okay..? Not suspicious at all?”

Tyler followed Andrea up the stairs to a little studio space she used for her paintings. The vast majority of them were more abstract. Every canvas he could see was covered in a series of patterns and colors. There were also a few piles of sketchbooks stacked up in a corner. According to Andrea, her parents were both really artistic people, and she got her love of art from them. In Tyler’s opinion, Andrea was probably one of the best artists he knew.

“So,” Tyler said, “did you want to show me a bunch of blobs with an abstract meaning or something?”

“Not exactly,” Andrea replied. “Wait there.”

Tyler sat down on a couch and watched as Andrea went behind her eisle.

“I painted this earlier this week,” she said. “It’s not that great, but I hope it helps you feel better, at least.” She pulled a canvas off of the display and turned it around.

What Tyler saw amazed him. It was a painting of Tyler, but… he looked different than he would have thought. Braver, in fact, than he thought himself to be. He was standing tall and proud with his chest puffed out. He saw that he was adjusting his glasses, and that was when he got a good look at his face. He seemed so bold and assured, and he was wearing the Crown of Oblivion on his head in all its glory. A golden golden aura surrounded the crown, along with a bit of color for each of them gems that represented their fallen friends.

He had no idea Andrea could paint like that. It looked so real while somehow looking like a fairy tale at the same time. Tyler couldn't believe he was looking at a depiction of _himself._

Andrea frowned a bit when she noticed his expression. “Do you not like it?”

“No, I do! It’s awesome! But…” Tyler didn’t know what to say. “Is… is that  _ me? _ ”   


“Hell yeah, man!” Andrea replied. “I know you might not believe it, but this is pretty much how I saw you by the time we got out.”

It  _ was _ hard to believe. All Tyler did was shriek and run away from things the entire night. Why would Andrea paint him to look so heroic?

“Are you sure that’s not my identical, much cooler twin brother?” Tyler asked.

Andrea chuckled a little at that. “Tyler, you were the one who lifted the curse from the mansion. You helped get us home. You did so much more than you think you did.”

“You think so?”

“I  _ know _ so. You were amazing, man. You  _ are  _ amazing.”

Tyler’s heart felt warm at the sound of that. He studied the painting a bit more. Maybe he didn’t fully believe it himself just yet, but if Andrea saw him like that, it must have meant something.

He couldn't help it - he started to tear up.

“Tyler, no,” Andrea said, setting the painting down. “Don’t you start! If you start crying, I’m gonna cry, and we’re both gonna be a mess, and I'm _really_ not in the mood to cry at three in the morning!”

“Sis..!” Tyler laughed sadly.

She smiled sadly. “Alright, bring it over here.”

Andrea spread out her arms, and Tyler approached her and pulled her in for a hug. As he held hid friend close, he thought about everyone else they were missing. Maybe things could be better than this. Maybe the others were gone, but he and Andrea were still there. They could still carry on for everyone else who was taken too soon. They could still make sure their memories lived on.

One way or another, Tyler would make sure he lived up to the hero in that painting.

**Author's Note:**

> In conclusion, these two are an underrated duo who absolutely deserved to survive


End file.
